High gas prices this summer will cause many families to travel less in order to save money. If you’re staying close to home, summertime is a great time to re-floor with Tuftwick Carpet!
Check out all of the deals they have going on right now in their showroom at 4602 34th St. There you’ll find their usual wide selection of flooring, plus new wood, ceramic and carpet samples that have just arrived!
If what you’re looking for is not in stock, Tuftwick will gladly order it for you.
Looking for something small? Tuftwick’s entire inventory of remnants is on sale! Add warmth and color to a dorm room or apartment with a stylish remnant or use a remnant as an area rug on hardwood floors. Remnants start at just $5 per yard!
If you have rental property, you can freshen up the interior with affordable flooring before new tenants move in. Consider new carpet for the living area and vinyl for the kitchen or bathroom. Also available for the kitchen or bathroom is a new line of backsplash tile.
With more than a half a century of experience, Tuftwick Carpet can help you make the right choice for your flooring needs. Recently, they’ve added a new salesperson to their staff. Jeff Cumby has more than 15 years of industry experience, and would love to talk to you about any of today’s popular flooring options.
Tuftwick also carries the latest flooring trend – Arko ceramic tile that mimics the look and feel of hardwood.
Also available is vinyl wood plank flooring. There are numerous advantages to installing vinyl wood plank floors. The cost savings makes it an affordable choice, and manufacturers are capable of producing realistic looking wood floors out of vinyl material, so you get a lot of style for a lower price. Another important aspect of vinyl wood flooring that makes it attractive is the ease of maintenance. A damp mop with an all-purpose cleaner is all it takes to clean these floors.
For maintaining carpet’s original beauty, there’s nothing better than the Capture Carpet Cleaning System. Tuftwick is one of the few places in town where the Capture system is still available. It deep cleans and deodorizes dirty carpets with powder instead of shampooing or steaming – in just 30 minutes!
Come by and ask the staff at Tuftwick Carpet about 12 months, no interest, no payment financing on all Shaw products!
From sales to installation and even after the work is finished, the crew at Tuftwick Carpet will make sure you are happy. Remember, everything is backed by a warranty, including installation. Tuftwick’s installers have been with the store for 20 years, and their work speaks volumes about the store’s high standards.
2012年4月11日星期三
Memorial Dedicated to Honor Flying Tiger
Hundreds of eyes turned skyward Saturday as a Chinese plane, trailing smoke, peeled off from a formation of four, heading west.
That “missing man” flyover culminated the midday dedication of a second memorial at Gilliam-McConnell Airfield in Carthage, both honoring young fighter pilots lost in battle defending people in distant lands against invading oppressors.
The new memorial joins a historic granite monument supporting the bronze tablet France sent to Carthage in 1917 following the death of James Rogers McConnell — last of the Lafayette Escadrille to fall before the United States entered the Great War.
Now two new granite pillars stand in tribute to a 21-year-old Flying Tiger pilot from High Falls lost in World War II. One is engraved and has his picture on a ceramic tile. The other carries a golden plaque and a second tile showing a gigantic granite cross that bears his name on a mountainside in China.
The plaque says in both Chinese and English, “2nd Lt. Robert Hoyle Upchurch will live forever in the hearts of the Chinese people.” It was hand carried from China by a delegation of 11 men who had flown halfway around the world to take part in these ceremonies.
Two flags — the red flag and gold stars of the People’s Republic of China and the Star-Spangled Banner — snapped in the breeze overhead as cadets of Pinecrest High School’s Air Force Junior ROTC lifted sabers over delegates from China and other dignitaries crossing a red carpet as they arrived.
Mayors and representatives of every municipality in Moore County came, each bearing a resolution endorsing the day. State Sen. Harris Blake greeted them and welcomed J. Don Hobart, the official representative of Gov. Bev Perdue.
Among the Chinese delegates were two from Huaihua — where the Flying Tigers were based — and two from Zhijiang, Pinehurst’s sister city. There were delegates from Hunan’s capital city of Changsha, the district’s central city of Chenzhou, and from Guidong, Moore’s sister county.
The crowd — estimated at more than 300 — stood to face the two flags as a brass ensemble conducted by the Rev. Dr. Paul Murphy played the anthems of two nations. Airfield owner Roland Gilliam then led the Pledge of Allegiance.
A nearly full-sized replica of a Curtiss P-40N fighter plane like the one Upchurch had flown “over the hump” on the Burma front to get into China stands on the memorial site. It was a P-40 Upchurch was flying Oct. 6, 1944, returning from the last mission of the day when last seen near cloud-shrouded mountains in Hunan Province.
Upchurch was listed as missing in action. His mother and father never knew his fate.
But in the mountains of Guidong County, a team had hiked four days to reach the crash site in hopes of rescuing the doomed plane’s pilot. It was not to be. They returned with bits of the wreckage and what they could recover of his body, which was washed, wrapped in red silk and placed in the traditional 7-inch thick coffin reserved for heroes.
Hundreds in Guidong gathered to mourn their unknown American pilot, and they buried him down the slope from a Ming Dynasty tower on Santai Mountain overlooking the city.
For more than 60 years Guidong people brought flowers and said prayers there until DNA identified him. When his remains were reburied in the family plot with military honors, the mayor of Guidong wrote to propose the two counties formally form a sister-county bond.
That “missing man” flyover culminated the midday dedication of a second memorial at Gilliam-McConnell Airfield in Carthage, both honoring young fighter pilots lost in battle defending people in distant lands against invading oppressors.
The new memorial joins a historic granite monument supporting the bronze tablet France sent to Carthage in 1917 following the death of James Rogers McConnell — last of the Lafayette Escadrille to fall before the United States entered the Great War.
Now two new granite pillars stand in tribute to a 21-year-old Flying Tiger pilot from High Falls lost in World War II. One is engraved and has his picture on a ceramic tile. The other carries a golden plaque and a second tile showing a gigantic granite cross that bears his name on a mountainside in China.
The plaque says in both Chinese and English, “2nd Lt. Robert Hoyle Upchurch will live forever in the hearts of the Chinese people.” It was hand carried from China by a delegation of 11 men who had flown halfway around the world to take part in these ceremonies.
Two flags — the red flag and gold stars of the People’s Republic of China and the Star-Spangled Banner — snapped in the breeze overhead as cadets of Pinecrest High School’s Air Force Junior ROTC lifted sabers over delegates from China and other dignitaries crossing a red carpet as they arrived.
Mayors and representatives of every municipality in Moore County came, each bearing a resolution endorsing the day. State Sen. Harris Blake greeted them and welcomed J. Don Hobart, the official representative of Gov. Bev Perdue.
Among the Chinese delegates were two from Huaihua — where the Flying Tigers were based — and two from Zhijiang, Pinehurst’s sister city. There were delegates from Hunan’s capital city of Changsha, the district’s central city of Chenzhou, and from Guidong, Moore’s sister county.
The crowd — estimated at more than 300 — stood to face the two flags as a brass ensemble conducted by the Rev. Dr. Paul Murphy played the anthems of two nations. Airfield owner Roland Gilliam then led the Pledge of Allegiance.
A nearly full-sized replica of a Curtiss P-40N fighter plane like the one Upchurch had flown “over the hump” on the Burma front to get into China stands on the memorial site. It was a P-40 Upchurch was flying Oct. 6, 1944, returning from the last mission of the day when last seen near cloud-shrouded mountains in Hunan Province.
Upchurch was listed as missing in action. His mother and father never knew his fate.
But in the mountains of Guidong County, a team had hiked four days to reach the crash site in hopes of rescuing the doomed plane’s pilot. It was not to be. They returned with bits of the wreckage and what they could recover of his body, which was washed, wrapped in red silk and placed in the traditional 7-inch thick coffin reserved for heroes.
Hundreds in Guidong gathered to mourn their unknown American pilot, and they buried him down the slope from a Ming Dynasty tower on Santai Mountain overlooking the city.
For more than 60 years Guidong people brought flowers and said prayers there until DNA identified him. When his remains were reburied in the family plot with military honors, the mayor of Guidong wrote to propose the two counties formally form a sister-county bond.
2012年4月10日星期二
S.F. Presidio story unearthed in thousands of bits
Tile fragments from a burned adobe house, a bottle of Mrs. Winslow's soothing syrup and colored chips of ancient dinner plates are part of a vast cache of artifacts being scrubbed, studied and meticulously catalogued in a new laboratory at what was once El Presidio de San Francisco.
The entire Presidio is officially part of the nation's only urban national park, but its historic center is also a site where soldiers and civilians from three nations - and the Ohlone people long before them- left traces of their lives when they moved on or died.
Those traces now fill thousands of carefully labeled transparent plastic bags held in 1,000 numbered cardboard boxes, and the contents of each box awaits detailed analysis by archaeologists working in the two laboratory buildings that will open to the public next year. The buildings are two converted 1940s-era garages standing next to the old Presidio Officers Club, and when they open there will be changing displays of the most interesting artifacts, tours of the lab and public lectures by the Presidio's archaeologists.
The scientists have already collected 526,000 individual artifacts, all variously dated from the ninth through the 20th centuries, according to Liz Clevenger, curator of archaeology for the Presidio Trust, which runs the park.
"There's a special excitement handling these remnants of so many past lives, and a pleasure in the research we do - research into so many people who never made it into the history books," said Clevenger.
The other day, two recent graduates of UC Berkeley's archaeology and anthropology departments were hard at work in the laboratory as paid interns, leaning over basins of muddy water and wielding toothbrushes to scrub brown detritus off every item - adobe brick chunks as big as a fist, specks of unburned charcoal, each almost as small as a grain of sand, and bottles of all shapes, sizes and ages.
Most of the material they worked on came from recent digs at the Presidio's Pershing Square, a site inside the boundaries of the fort the Spanish built in 1776. It's also where the home of General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing later stood before it burned down in 1915, killing his wife and three daughters.
Other treasures have also emerged unexpectedly from another area near Crissy Field, not because archaeologists were digging there, but because Caltrans bulldozers unearthed them while working on the new Doyle Drive. Somehow the soothing syrup bottle had landed there - a relic from some baby teething in the 1800s.
"We're looking at 200 years of history," said Sarah Giffin, a Berkeley archaeology grad, as she scrubbed away at a clutch of gopher teeth dug from an earthen animal tunnel beneath what once had been an adobe building. Its purpose in the Spanish fort is as yet unknown.
"This isn't really my field," Giffin said as she examined the teeth. "I'm more into the Bronze Age Greeks, but it's all fascinating."
Opposite Giffin sat Elizzabeth Campos, the anthropologist, cleaning chips of glazed earthenware that archaeologists call majolica, perhaps from a time long before the Spanish came, and just right for Campos to study.
"Oh, neat - my time!" she said as she scrubbed.
At Berkeley Campos had done her field work at Brooks Island, an East Bay regional shoreline hilltop where the Ohlone Indians lived for 2,000 years before the Spanish built El Presidio.
But scrubbing artifacts ignores time, for along with the majolica were fragments of blue and white china, possibly brought to California aboard one of the Manila galleons that carried porcelain and other treasures from China. These ships stopped in Monterey on their way to Mexico in the 1800s with cargo for the Spanish settlements along the California coast.
Aided by high-tech tools like ground-penetrating radar, the Presidio Trust's archaeologists are steadily unearthing history. Their excavation sites lie within the old fort square, at El Polin Springs and in nearby Tennessee Hollow, where Spanish civilian settlers built homes outside the fort's protection.
By 1848, when Mexico ceded California and the southwest to America, American soldiers moved in, and today the Presidio's archaeologists are unearthing relic after relic from the days when soldiers of the Spanish-American War and two world wars were stationed there.
The entire Presidio is officially part of the nation's only urban national park, but its historic center is also a site where soldiers and civilians from three nations - and the Ohlone people long before them- left traces of their lives when they moved on or died.
Those traces now fill thousands of carefully labeled transparent plastic bags held in 1,000 numbered cardboard boxes, and the contents of each box awaits detailed analysis by archaeologists working in the two laboratory buildings that will open to the public next year. The buildings are two converted 1940s-era garages standing next to the old Presidio Officers Club, and when they open there will be changing displays of the most interesting artifacts, tours of the lab and public lectures by the Presidio's archaeologists.
The scientists have already collected 526,000 individual artifacts, all variously dated from the ninth through the 20th centuries, according to Liz Clevenger, curator of archaeology for the Presidio Trust, which runs the park.
"There's a special excitement handling these remnants of so many past lives, and a pleasure in the research we do - research into so many people who never made it into the history books," said Clevenger.
The other day, two recent graduates of UC Berkeley's archaeology and anthropology departments were hard at work in the laboratory as paid interns, leaning over basins of muddy water and wielding toothbrushes to scrub brown detritus off every item - adobe brick chunks as big as a fist, specks of unburned charcoal, each almost as small as a grain of sand, and bottles of all shapes, sizes and ages.
Most of the material they worked on came from recent digs at the Presidio's Pershing Square, a site inside the boundaries of the fort the Spanish built in 1776. It's also where the home of General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing later stood before it burned down in 1915, killing his wife and three daughters.
Other treasures have also emerged unexpectedly from another area near Crissy Field, not because archaeologists were digging there, but because Caltrans bulldozers unearthed them while working on the new Doyle Drive. Somehow the soothing syrup bottle had landed there - a relic from some baby teething in the 1800s.
"We're looking at 200 years of history," said Sarah Giffin, a Berkeley archaeology grad, as she scrubbed away at a clutch of gopher teeth dug from an earthen animal tunnel beneath what once had been an adobe building. Its purpose in the Spanish fort is as yet unknown.
"This isn't really my field," Giffin said as she examined the teeth. "I'm more into the Bronze Age Greeks, but it's all fascinating."
Opposite Giffin sat Elizzabeth Campos, the anthropologist, cleaning chips of glazed earthenware that archaeologists call majolica, perhaps from a time long before the Spanish came, and just right for Campos to study.
"Oh, neat - my time!" she said as she scrubbed.
At Berkeley Campos had done her field work at Brooks Island, an East Bay regional shoreline hilltop where the Ohlone Indians lived for 2,000 years before the Spanish built El Presidio.
But scrubbing artifacts ignores time, for along with the majolica were fragments of blue and white china, possibly brought to California aboard one of the Manila galleons that carried porcelain and other treasures from China. These ships stopped in Monterey on their way to Mexico in the 1800s with cargo for the Spanish settlements along the California coast.
Aided by high-tech tools like ground-penetrating radar, the Presidio Trust's archaeologists are steadily unearthing history. Their excavation sites lie within the old fort square, at El Polin Springs and in nearby Tennessee Hollow, where Spanish civilian settlers built homes outside the fort's protection.
By 1848, when Mexico ceded California and the southwest to America, American soldiers moved in, and today the Presidio's archaeologists are unearthing relic after relic from the days when soldiers of the Spanish-American War and two world wars were stationed there.
2012年3月26日星期一
Floor It!
Whether you’re looking to update your foyer or kitchen, or are building a new bathroom from the ground up, tiling still reigns supreme. But before you start laying the grout, you should consider a few things first.
Neutral colours are always in. For instance, consider a shade of white, beige, taupe or grey. The best thing about a neutral-coloured tile is that you won’t easily grow tired of it.
After establishing a colour, you can then begin thinking about the print or pattern. Unpolished stone looks great in the foyer and adds a rustic element to your home. Meanwhile textured finishes and wood-grain patterns are popular and perfect for the bathroom because they typically have non-slip surfaces. Wood-grain patterns are also great if you prefer an earthy, natural look and feel in your home. Not to mention they add a certain organic, serene and spa-like atmosphere in your bathroom.
Looking to really indulge? Consider underfloor heating to warm you up after you step out of the shower. Though you may not be able to take a daily trip to the spa, you can bring the experience home by giving your bathroom the spa treatment with a brand new remodel.
When considering print and pattern in the kitchen, ceramic works best because it is easy to clean and is a durable material.
Sometimes a neutral colour can look too sterile in the home. So to liven up your home and make it look and feel more cozy, consider adding a pop of colour. Pantone Color Institute — the leader in colour trends — named Tangerine Tango the colour of year. The bright orange shade works great in small doses. Whether it’s the colour of the stand mixer in your kitchen, a throw pillow or blanket on your living room couch, or as a shower curtain in the bathroom, the bright orange will be sure to energize your surroundings.
Because home decor trends are forever changing, your best bet is to stick with a neutral colour and incorporate accent pieces by the season. Switching it up will freshen up any space and keep it lively. But if you’re particularly drawn to Tangerine Tango or another colour, don’t be afraid to commit to it either. By using different shades of one colour, you can create an interesting gradient mosaic pattern to cover the shower walls or to create a great focal wall in your foyer or living room. Or you can use your favourite colour in thin, border tiles to accent the neutral-coloured tiles.
Whether you have an idea of what you want your room to look like, or are still trying to gather ideas, you can head over to a tile showroom to experience the look and feel of the different tiles.
Neutral colours are always in. For instance, consider a shade of white, beige, taupe or grey. The best thing about a neutral-coloured tile is that you won’t easily grow tired of it.
After establishing a colour, you can then begin thinking about the print or pattern. Unpolished stone looks great in the foyer and adds a rustic element to your home. Meanwhile textured finishes and wood-grain patterns are popular and perfect for the bathroom because they typically have non-slip surfaces. Wood-grain patterns are also great if you prefer an earthy, natural look and feel in your home. Not to mention they add a certain organic, serene and spa-like atmosphere in your bathroom.
Looking to really indulge? Consider underfloor heating to warm you up after you step out of the shower. Though you may not be able to take a daily trip to the spa, you can bring the experience home by giving your bathroom the spa treatment with a brand new remodel.
When considering print and pattern in the kitchen, ceramic works best because it is easy to clean and is a durable material.
Sometimes a neutral colour can look too sterile in the home. So to liven up your home and make it look and feel more cozy, consider adding a pop of colour. Pantone Color Institute — the leader in colour trends — named Tangerine Tango the colour of year. The bright orange shade works great in small doses. Whether it’s the colour of the stand mixer in your kitchen, a throw pillow or blanket on your living room couch, or as a shower curtain in the bathroom, the bright orange will be sure to energize your surroundings.
Because home decor trends are forever changing, your best bet is to stick with a neutral colour and incorporate accent pieces by the season. Switching it up will freshen up any space and keep it lively. But if you’re particularly drawn to Tangerine Tango or another colour, don’t be afraid to commit to it either. By using different shades of one colour, you can create an interesting gradient mosaic pattern to cover the shower walls or to create a great focal wall in your foyer or living room. Or you can use your favourite colour in thin, border tiles to accent the neutral-coloured tiles.
Whether you have an idea of what you want your room to look like, or are still trying to gather ideas, you can head over to a tile showroom to experience the look and feel of the different tiles.
2012年3月21日星期三
Broader Horizons
Two years ago, Ilias Panagiotopoulos was working as a tile setter. His wife Evangelia Lymperi was an English teacher. Both were employed, but both saw the writing on the wall.
From their home in Argos, a small Greek city of 30,000 people on the Aegean Sea, they applied for the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program in February, 2010.
“We saw that we would soon become unemployed, as we did,” says Evangelia. “We had our parents supporting us and living at their home.”
With four children to support — Tasos, now 24, Sofia, 17, Konstantina, 16, and Maria, 10 — they heeded the advice of their cousins who had recently moved to Regina.
“They encouraged us to come here because there was plenty of work here if you want to work; that’s true,” says Evangelia. “You get lots of opportunities, and for the kids it was better. And things have got lots worse (in Greece) since we came here seven months (ago) and lots of people would like to come here if they could.”
The family arrived on July 25 last year, the three adults on work permits and the girls on study permits.
Ilias found jobs at two tile companies, Heaven’s Hands Ceramic Installation and Precise Tile. Evangelia is a cook, server and dishwasher at Houston Pizza, Wintergreene Estates retirement complex and St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church. She has no plans to go back to teaching: “I think I’ve had enough of that, 23 years. Maybe something different sometime but I haven’t figured it out yet.”
It’s not so much about them, anyway.
“For us, it’s that we came here to give our kids a chance to better life,” says Evangelia.
Tasos is working as a night attendant at Wintergreene; he’s hoping to save up enough money to become a pilot. Sofia plans to study nursing at the U of R next year. Konstantina, in Grade 11, is undecided.
The kids were all proficient enough in English — they studied it twice a week back home — but adjusting to a new school five times the size of their old one has been difficult. They miss life back home: “Our everyday life there, our school, our friends, our grandparents,” says Sofia.
It hasn’t been easy for Ilias and Evangelia, either.
“You miss home and you’re all alone all of a sudden — and we’re not kids. I’m 45 and my husband is 47; you don’t really want such big changes in your life at that time,” she says.
Canada, of course, was settled by Europeans. In the 1800s and early 1900s, people from Europe crossed the ocean in droves, many of them fleeing economic hardships back home. Some of them found a better life in the agriculturally rich prairies.
Now, a century later, many Europeans are again leaving their home countries, looking for a better life across the ocean. In Ireland, a recent report by the Economic and Social Research Institute estimates that almost 1,000 people are leaving each week, many of them highly skilled workers. In Greece, thousands are also fleeing a country with a massive unemployment rate in search of work.
When Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall visited Ireland recently in search of skilled workers, Lisa and Ian Corrigan were a few months ahead of him. The couple moved from Ireland to Saskatoon last summer, leaving a ravaged economy behind.
They were working four jobs to support their family. She was an insurance broker and an event planner. He worked as a consultant for a construction firm. In the evenings, they ran a small pub for extra money. There was barely any time for their kids — Katie, six, and Dylan, four.
“Our reason for coming here was the quality of life,” says Lisa, 30, sipping from her cup of tea.
“Back in Ireland, we were working a hundred hours a week. Each.”
“That’s what people back home are doing,” Ian, 36, pipes in. “They are working every hour God is sending them and they are getting it hard.”
The couple has no relatives here. Back home, they lived next to Ian’s parents and worked with Lisa’s parents.
“If you could pick (your family) up and bring them with you, you would. But Skype is a good thing,” says Ian.
“They can see that people who are home now are struggling,” Lisa adds. “They’ve gone from the thing of missing us to saying we are so lucky, so fortunate to be here.”
Faced with an unemployment rate of nearly 15 per cent, people like Lisa and Ian Corrigan decided it was time to leave.
“The construction industry just plummeted,” says Ian, who is now a construction consultant with Stuart Olson Dominion. “It went from a big boom to just nothing.”
Lisa has just started working with O’Reilly Insurance.
In terms of sheer numbers, Saskatchewan still lags behind other provinces when it comes to international immigration. But this province’s skilled labour shortage means Saskatchewan is seeing an influx of skilled workers from abroad like never before.
From 1998 until 2004, more than 14,000 people came to Saskatchewan from abroad. Since then, that has almost tripled. In 2011 alone, an estimated 9,000 foreigners came to Saskatchewan, the vast majority of them hand-picked for their skills through the province’s immigrant nominee program.
And in one of the largest shifts ever to this country’s immigration policy, skilled workers are bypassing all the usual red tape. They are being courted by the province because of their skills. Ian came over at the request of Stuart Olson Dominion. He and his family are now in the process of acquiring permanent residency and hope to eventually become Canadian citizens.
Between 2000 and 2011, 8,829 newcomers or 19.4 per cent of immigrants to Saskatchewan came from Europe and the United Kingdom. They mainly came from Ukraine, U.K., Germany and Russia. Ireland and Greece don’t even register in the top 10 in terms of countries of origin, but this is not a game of numbers. It’s about a shift in the way the province thinks about immigration.
“It used to be the ones who came here would move after one winter. They would go to Montreal or Vancouver,” says Doug Elliott with the Sask Trends Monitor. “But the whole nature of immigration has now changed.
“Suddenly, all these folks are coming here who are not refugees, who are not families of immigrants. They are now what we call economic immigrants. They are coming here for jobs.”
The Saskatchewan government is working on an aggressive immigration strategy, with a strong focus on places like Ireland. Since the collapse of the Irish boom — dubbed the Celtic Tiger — young, educated but unemployed professionals have become a sought-after commodity.
“In about 2005 to 2007, people here in Saskatchewan were really trying to figure out the magic of the Tiger and they all wanted to go see what they were doing to attract capital and people,” says Joe Garcea, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan. “But of course since then Ireland has collapsed and we are going there not to look at the miracle of it but rather to pick through the pieces and see what we can bring back.”
Konstantinos Makrodimitriou didn’t even know Saskatchewan existed before he moved here from Greece with a work permit. The 28-year-old works as a line cook in a Saskatoon restaurant. He left a country in the throes of eurozone economic collapse. High unemployment and government-imposed austerity measures meant less pay, fewer benefits and higher taxes. More than 20 per cent of the country’s population is unemployed, but the collapse is hitting the youngest the hardest. Over half of Greece’s youth are without work.
“Things are not good in Greece. Jobs are not good anymore. No money, no future if you stay there anymore,” he says in a thick accent.
“Stay there for what? There is no reason. I came here for something better, so we will see.”
According to Greek media reports, in the last six months since the Greek economic debacle peaked, the Rome embassies for Canada and Australia have seen applications for work permits and visas nearly double. Greeks like Makrodimitriou are leaving their native country by the thousands, hoping to get back at least a little of what they lost before the collapse.
Even though they are almost a continent apart, the Irish and Greeks have a lot in common. As in Greece, the unemployment situation in Ireland is hitting the country’s youngest workers the hardest. According to the National Youth Council of Ireland, youth unemployment has tripled since 2008 with one in three young men under 25 being out of work. The organization also estimates that 70 per cent of unemployed youth plan to emigrate.
Canada’s immigration policy has created a double reality for people wanting to move to Canada. On the one hand, there is a massive backlog of applications — some estimates put the number of applications waiting to be processed at more than a million. At the same time, provincial programs like Saskatchewan’s Immigrant Nominee Program allow provincial governments to hand pick immigrants according to their skills. Highly skilled workers with corporate backing can skip ahead, while others are left to wait in line.
From their home in Argos, a small Greek city of 30,000 people on the Aegean Sea, they applied for the Saskatchewan Immigrant Nominee Program in February, 2010.
“We saw that we would soon become unemployed, as we did,” says Evangelia. “We had our parents supporting us and living at their home.”
With four children to support — Tasos, now 24, Sofia, 17, Konstantina, 16, and Maria, 10 — they heeded the advice of their cousins who had recently moved to Regina.
“They encouraged us to come here because there was plenty of work here if you want to work; that’s true,” says Evangelia. “You get lots of opportunities, and for the kids it was better. And things have got lots worse (in Greece) since we came here seven months (ago) and lots of people would like to come here if they could.”
The family arrived on July 25 last year, the three adults on work permits and the girls on study permits.
Ilias found jobs at two tile companies, Heaven’s Hands Ceramic Installation and Precise Tile. Evangelia is a cook, server and dishwasher at Houston Pizza, Wintergreene Estates retirement complex and St. Paul’s Greek Orthodox Church. She has no plans to go back to teaching: “I think I’ve had enough of that, 23 years. Maybe something different sometime but I haven’t figured it out yet.”
It’s not so much about them, anyway.
“For us, it’s that we came here to give our kids a chance to better life,” says Evangelia.
Tasos is working as a night attendant at Wintergreene; he’s hoping to save up enough money to become a pilot. Sofia plans to study nursing at the U of R next year. Konstantina, in Grade 11, is undecided.
The kids were all proficient enough in English — they studied it twice a week back home — but adjusting to a new school five times the size of their old one has been difficult. They miss life back home: “Our everyday life there, our school, our friends, our grandparents,” says Sofia.
It hasn’t been easy for Ilias and Evangelia, either.
“You miss home and you’re all alone all of a sudden — and we’re not kids. I’m 45 and my husband is 47; you don’t really want such big changes in your life at that time,” she says.
Canada, of course, was settled by Europeans. In the 1800s and early 1900s, people from Europe crossed the ocean in droves, many of them fleeing economic hardships back home. Some of them found a better life in the agriculturally rich prairies.
Now, a century later, many Europeans are again leaving their home countries, looking for a better life across the ocean. In Ireland, a recent report by the Economic and Social Research Institute estimates that almost 1,000 people are leaving each week, many of them highly skilled workers. In Greece, thousands are also fleeing a country with a massive unemployment rate in search of work.
When Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall visited Ireland recently in search of skilled workers, Lisa and Ian Corrigan were a few months ahead of him. The couple moved from Ireland to Saskatoon last summer, leaving a ravaged economy behind.
They were working four jobs to support their family. She was an insurance broker and an event planner. He worked as a consultant for a construction firm. In the evenings, they ran a small pub for extra money. There was barely any time for their kids — Katie, six, and Dylan, four.
“Our reason for coming here was the quality of life,” says Lisa, 30, sipping from her cup of tea.
“Back in Ireland, we were working a hundred hours a week. Each.”
“That’s what people back home are doing,” Ian, 36, pipes in. “They are working every hour God is sending them and they are getting it hard.”
The couple has no relatives here. Back home, they lived next to Ian’s parents and worked with Lisa’s parents.
“If you could pick (your family) up and bring them with you, you would. But Skype is a good thing,” says Ian.
“They can see that people who are home now are struggling,” Lisa adds. “They’ve gone from the thing of missing us to saying we are so lucky, so fortunate to be here.”
Faced with an unemployment rate of nearly 15 per cent, people like Lisa and Ian Corrigan decided it was time to leave.
“The construction industry just plummeted,” says Ian, who is now a construction consultant with Stuart Olson Dominion. “It went from a big boom to just nothing.”
Lisa has just started working with O’Reilly Insurance.
In terms of sheer numbers, Saskatchewan still lags behind other provinces when it comes to international immigration. But this province’s skilled labour shortage means Saskatchewan is seeing an influx of skilled workers from abroad like never before.
From 1998 until 2004, more than 14,000 people came to Saskatchewan from abroad. Since then, that has almost tripled. In 2011 alone, an estimated 9,000 foreigners came to Saskatchewan, the vast majority of them hand-picked for their skills through the province’s immigrant nominee program.
And in one of the largest shifts ever to this country’s immigration policy, skilled workers are bypassing all the usual red tape. They are being courted by the province because of their skills. Ian came over at the request of Stuart Olson Dominion. He and his family are now in the process of acquiring permanent residency and hope to eventually become Canadian citizens.
Between 2000 and 2011, 8,829 newcomers or 19.4 per cent of immigrants to Saskatchewan came from Europe and the United Kingdom. They mainly came from Ukraine, U.K., Germany and Russia. Ireland and Greece don’t even register in the top 10 in terms of countries of origin, but this is not a game of numbers. It’s about a shift in the way the province thinks about immigration.
“It used to be the ones who came here would move after one winter. They would go to Montreal or Vancouver,” says Doug Elliott with the Sask Trends Monitor. “But the whole nature of immigration has now changed.
“Suddenly, all these folks are coming here who are not refugees, who are not families of immigrants. They are now what we call economic immigrants. They are coming here for jobs.”
The Saskatchewan government is working on an aggressive immigration strategy, with a strong focus on places like Ireland. Since the collapse of the Irish boom — dubbed the Celtic Tiger — young, educated but unemployed professionals have become a sought-after commodity.
“In about 2005 to 2007, people here in Saskatchewan were really trying to figure out the magic of the Tiger and they all wanted to go see what they were doing to attract capital and people,” says Joe Garcea, a professor at the University of Saskatchewan. “But of course since then Ireland has collapsed and we are going there not to look at the miracle of it but rather to pick through the pieces and see what we can bring back.”
Konstantinos Makrodimitriou didn’t even know Saskatchewan existed before he moved here from Greece with a work permit. The 28-year-old works as a line cook in a Saskatoon restaurant. He left a country in the throes of eurozone economic collapse. High unemployment and government-imposed austerity measures meant less pay, fewer benefits and higher taxes. More than 20 per cent of the country’s population is unemployed, but the collapse is hitting the youngest the hardest. Over half of Greece’s youth are without work.
“Things are not good in Greece. Jobs are not good anymore. No money, no future if you stay there anymore,” he says in a thick accent.
“Stay there for what? There is no reason. I came here for something better, so we will see.”
According to Greek media reports, in the last six months since the Greek economic debacle peaked, the Rome embassies for Canada and Australia have seen applications for work permits and visas nearly double. Greeks like Makrodimitriou are leaving their native country by the thousands, hoping to get back at least a little of what they lost before the collapse.
Even though they are almost a continent apart, the Irish and Greeks have a lot in common. As in Greece, the unemployment situation in Ireland is hitting the country’s youngest workers the hardest. According to the National Youth Council of Ireland, youth unemployment has tripled since 2008 with one in three young men under 25 being out of work. The organization also estimates that 70 per cent of unemployed youth plan to emigrate.
Canada’s immigration policy has created a double reality for people wanting to move to Canada. On the one hand, there is a massive backlog of applications — some estimates put the number of applications waiting to be processed at more than a million. At the same time, provincial programs like Saskatchewan’s Immigrant Nominee Program allow provincial governments to hand pick immigrants according to their skills. Highly skilled workers with corporate backing can skip ahead, while others are left to wait in line.
2012年3月8日星期四
Tile Makers Creating Orion Shield
Workers recently began cutting and coating the first thermal protection system tiles - part of the heat shield that will protect an Orion spacecraft during an upcoming flight test which will simulate the re-entry speed and heating of returning from deep space.
The tiles are made of the same material and coating as those used on the space shuttle's belly. On Orion, however, the tiles will be placed along the sides and top of the conical spacecraft. A separate heat shield akin to the ablative design used during Apollo is being developed to protect the bottom of the spacecraft, which will encounter the highest temperatures.
The manufacturing work at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., marks an important time in the progression of the spacecraft following the shuttle's retirement in 2011, said Thermal Protection System, or TPS, engineers Joy Huff and Sarah Cox.
"We're making something that's going to fly again, which is what we were doing for years," Huff said.
There are about 40 people involved in the tile work: 20 to make the tiles and 20 to install them.
"We're at the starting line," Cox said. "It's going to take some time to get all the parts fabricated."
The same shop that manufactured space shuttle tiles will make the 1,300 tiles needed for the Orion flight.
It is not fast work. In fact, workers will spend about 11 months shaping the insulating blocks and laying on a heat-resistant, ceramic coating. They use a 5-axis mill loaded with precise dimensions to cut blank tiles to their shapes. So far, the shop has finished 33 tiles.
Many of the tiles will have special cutouts for instruments to collect data during the flight test. Many fewer cutouts will be needed for future missions.
In an advancement from the shuttle days, each tile's dimensions are sent over digitally from Orion builder Lockheed Martin and the final tile is photographed with a 3-D camera so computers can fit the pieces together virtually before they are placed together physically, Huff said. The details are far more exact than in the past.
"They've had such good success that (technicians) are going to eliminate one pre-fit step," Huff said.
The comparisons with the tile work for the space shuttles are plentiful. For example, the smaller Orion uses tiles that average 8-inches by 8-inches compared to the shuttle's 6-inches by 6-inches. Also, Orion's design allows for many of the tiles to be the same dimensions with the same part number, but each shuttle tile was a unique configuration unto itself, with individual part numbers.
"That's a huge improvement over shuttle," Huff said. "Even having nine or 10 of the same part is a big improvement."
Perhaps the biggest comparison, though, is the sheer number of tiles involved. A space shuttle heat shield required more than 23,000 tiles to the Orion's 1,300.
"It's smaller, so there's less parts," Cox said.
However, Orion's tiles will be used only once because the spacecraft will splashdown in the ocean, drenching the absorbent tiles. That means that technicians will make and install all 1,300 tiles between Orion missions. Shuttles required 100 to 150 new tiles between flights, Cox said.
Technicians who applied the tiles for the shuttle will bond Orion's tiles, too. That work will start sometime in the summer. The tiles will be connected to nine panels that will be connected to the spacecraft to make the outer skin of the spacecraft.
Although it's a new spacecraft with a new mission, it still calls for many of the same skills the work force at Kennedy used for 30 years of shuttle preparation.
Orion is expected to see significantly hotter re-entry temperatures because it will be slowing down from about 25,000 mph when returning from the moon or some other deep space destination. Space shuttles used their heat shields to slow down from about 17,000 mph, the speed required to stay in orbit around Earth.
"The heat shield has been a very technological challenge and it will continue to be," said Huff, who has been working Orion's TPS development since 2005.
To get to this point, when tiles are being cut that will be used on a mission in space, has given the project more of a sense of being real, the engineers said. They know there is plenty of hard work ahead, but they are happy to see it start.
The tiles are made of the same material and coating as those used on the space shuttle's belly. On Orion, however, the tiles will be placed along the sides and top of the conical spacecraft. A separate heat shield akin to the ablative design used during Apollo is being developed to protect the bottom of the spacecraft, which will encounter the highest temperatures.
The manufacturing work at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., marks an important time in the progression of the spacecraft following the shuttle's retirement in 2011, said Thermal Protection System, or TPS, engineers Joy Huff and Sarah Cox.
"We're making something that's going to fly again, which is what we were doing for years," Huff said.
There are about 40 people involved in the tile work: 20 to make the tiles and 20 to install them.
"We're at the starting line," Cox said. "It's going to take some time to get all the parts fabricated."
The same shop that manufactured space shuttle tiles will make the 1,300 tiles needed for the Orion flight.
It is not fast work. In fact, workers will spend about 11 months shaping the insulating blocks and laying on a heat-resistant, ceramic coating. They use a 5-axis mill loaded with precise dimensions to cut blank tiles to their shapes. So far, the shop has finished 33 tiles.
Many of the tiles will have special cutouts for instruments to collect data during the flight test. Many fewer cutouts will be needed for future missions.
In an advancement from the shuttle days, each tile's dimensions are sent over digitally from Orion builder Lockheed Martin and the final tile is photographed with a 3-D camera so computers can fit the pieces together virtually before they are placed together physically, Huff said. The details are far more exact than in the past.
"They've had such good success that (technicians) are going to eliminate one pre-fit step," Huff said.
The comparisons with the tile work for the space shuttles are plentiful. For example, the smaller Orion uses tiles that average 8-inches by 8-inches compared to the shuttle's 6-inches by 6-inches. Also, Orion's design allows for many of the tiles to be the same dimensions with the same part number, but each shuttle tile was a unique configuration unto itself, with individual part numbers.
"That's a huge improvement over shuttle," Huff said. "Even having nine or 10 of the same part is a big improvement."
Perhaps the biggest comparison, though, is the sheer number of tiles involved. A space shuttle heat shield required more than 23,000 tiles to the Orion's 1,300.
"It's smaller, so there's less parts," Cox said.
However, Orion's tiles will be used only once because the spacecraft will splashdown in the ocean, drenching the absorbent tiles. That means that technicians will make and install all 1,300 tiles between Orion missions. Shuttles required 100 to 150 new tiles between flights, Cox said.
Technicians who applied the tiles for the shuttle will bond Orion's tiles, too. That work will start sometime in the summer. The tiles will be connected to nine panels that will be connected to the spacecraft to make the outer skin of the spacecraft.
Although it's a new spacecraft with a new mission, it still calls for many of the same skills the work force at Kennedy used for 30 years of shuttle preparation.
Orion is expected to see significantly hotter re-entry temperatures because it will be slowing down from about 25,000 mph when returning from the moon or some other deep space destination. Space shuttles used their heat shields to slow down from about 17,000 mph, the speed required to stay in orbit around Earth.
"The heat shield has been a very technological challenge and it will continue to be," said Huff, who has been working Orion's TPS development since 2005.
To get to this point, when tiles are being cut that will be used on a mission in space, has given the project more of a sense of being real, the engineers said. They know there is plenty of hard work ahead, but they are happy to see it start.
2012年2月5日星期日
Solvay house built in 1845 has 4,362 square feet
Paul Salvatore bought the 1845 Tudor Revival house at 400 Scarboro Drive in 1997. It was a fixer-upper he's been fixing ever since, he said.
"There is still a little bit of work to be done, but a lot has already been done," he said.
Salvatore and his wife, Michelle Salvatore, are temporarily merging their households in the six-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath home in the Piercefield section of Solvay. Once they sell the 4,362-square-foot home, on the market for $279,900, they plan to build on land they purchased in Pompey.
The Piercefield neighborhood is known for mansions built in the late 1800s on the former Hazard family estate. Frederick Hazard, former president of the Solvay Process Co., contributed land and resources to the village of Solvay, including the lot for the Solvay Public Library.
The home, on a corner lot, has two asphalt driveways that intersect. The lower, straight driveway ends at the attached two-car garage, and the upper, circular driveway allows passengers to be dropped off at the covered main entrance. Behind the house, with its stucco and half-timber exterior, there is an asphalt basketball court and a fenced area, ideal for a play yard or garden.
The covered double front door is a mover's dream with its level approach and combined opening -- 8 feet high and nearly 5 feet wide. The doors have leaded glass insets, as do the sidelights, and open to a spacious foyer with a triple-width coat closet.
Double French doors in the foyer open to the front-to-back living room which has a leaded glass bay window, a wood-burning fireplace, crown molding and an oak parquet floor.
On the other side of the foyer, another set of double French doors open to the formal dining room. The room has hardwood floors beneath wall-to-wall carpet, a chair rail, crown molding and a built-in Arts & Crafts-style china cabinet.
A third pair of French doors divide a small workout room from the foyer. Beyond the workout room, a glass pocket door slides open to a three-season Florida room with jalousie windows, perched above the garage.
Paul gutted and updated the eat-in kitchen with lots of raised-panel maple cabinets; solid surface, bevel-edged counter tops and new appliances, which will stay in the home. The ceramic tile floor has a rectangular border of river rock outlining the large island. There is a powder room adjacent to the kitchen and the dining room.
The first floor also has a TV room, which could be a home office, between the kitchen and the foyer. There is also a large room with a wood-burning fireplace at the back of the house that the Salvatores use as a gaming room.
The main oak staircase has an Arts & Crafts-style chandelier overhead as well as a leaded glass skylight. There is a second staircase in the back of the house.
There are two master suites in separate wings on the second floor. The suite the Salvatores use has hardwood floors, a walk-in closet and an adjoining sitting room. The sitting room has a generous walk-in cedar closet with access to the unfinished attic. The attic has a brick fireplace, exposed brick walls and a vaulted ceiling. Paul calls that part of the attic the "someday room" because he had hoped to someday remodel and annex the space and incorporate it into a stunning master suite.
The master sitting room also has access to an outdoor deck on the roof above the Florida room and to a full bath with a combination tub and shower.
There are two other full bathrooms on the second floor, one with seafoam green glass wall tiles and another with black and white glass tiles.
The second-floor bedrooms include a petite nursery, decorated and ready to accommodate a child or grandchild.
All windows have been replaced and the home has a security system. Paul replaced the steam heat boiler, powered by natural gas, a month ago. The home is on public water and sewers.
"There is still a little bit of work to be done, but a lot has already been done," he said.
Salvatore and his wife, Michelle Salvatore, are temporarily merging their households in the six-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath home in the Piercefield section of Solvay. Once they sell the 4,362-square-foot home, on the market for $279,900, they plan to build on land they purchased in Pompey.
The Piercefield neighborhood is known for mansions built in the late 1800s on the former Hazard family estate. Frederick Hazard, former president of the Solvay Process Co., contributed land and resources to the village of Solvay, including the lot for the Solvay Public Library.
The home, on a corner lot, has two asphalt driveways that intersect. The lower, straight driveway ends at the attached two-car garage, and the upper, circular driveway allows passengers to be dropped off at the covered main entrance. Behind the house, with its stucco and half-timber exterior, there is an asphalt basketball court and a fenced area, ideal for a play yard or garden.
The covered double front door is a mover's dream with its level approach and combined opening -- 8 feet high and nearly 5 feet wide. The doors have leaded glass insets, as do the sidelights, and open to a spacious foyer with a triple-width coat closet.
Double French doors in the foyer open to the front-to-back living room which has a leaded glass bay window, a wood-burning fireplace, crown molding and an oak parquet floor.
On the other side of the foyer, another set of double French doors open to the formal dining room. The room has hardwood floors beneath wall-to-wall carpet, a chair rail, crown molding and a built-in Arts & Crafts-style china cabinet.
A third pair of French doors divide a small workout room from the foyer. Beyond the workout room, a glass pocket door slides open to a three-season Florida room with jalousie windows, perched above the garage.
Paul gutted and updated the eat-in kitchen with lots of raised-panel maple cabinets; solid surface, bevel-edged counter tops and new appliances, which will stay in the home. The ceramic tile floor has a rectangular border of river rock outlining the large island. There is a powder room adjacent to the kitchen and the dining room.
The first floor also has a TV room, which could be a home office, between the kitchen and the foyer. There is also a large room with a wood-burning fireplace at the back of the house that the Salvatores use as a gaming room.
The main oak staircase has an Arts & Crafts-style chandelier overhead as well as a leaded glass skylight. There is a second staircase in the back of the house.
There are two master suites in separate wings on the second floor. The suite the Salvatores use has hardwood floors, a walk-in closet and an adjoining sitting room. The sitting room has a generous walk-in cedar closet with access to the unfinished attic. The attic has a brick fireplace, exposed brick walls and a vaulted ceiling. Paul calls that part of the attic the "someday room" because he had hoped to someday remodel and annex the space and incorporate it into a stunning master suite.
The master sitting room also has access to an outdoor deck on the roof above the Florida room and to a full bath with a combination tub and shower.
There are two other full bathrooms on the second floor, one with seafoam green glass wall tiles and another with black and white glass tiles.
The second-floor bedrooms include a petite nursery, decorated and ready to accommodate a child or grandchild.
All windows have been replaced and the home has a security system. Paul replaced the steam heat boiler, powered by natural gas, a month ago. The home is on public water and sewers.
2012年2月2日星期四
Backsplashes - How to get started.
Backsplashes are one of the easiest ways to add pizzazz to your kitchen or bathroom, yes I said bathroom, most people don't do this but, if you can afford it do it. It would make a big impact with buyers, because you don't see it done much. Kitchens and bathrooms still sell homes, make yours as great as it can be with your budget. Beware though backsplashes are not that easy to install and can cost you time, frustration and most of all money. If you aren't very handy but want to try and put up a backsplash, their are new products on the market like Bondera that make the process easier and quicker. Again planning and research are the first items on your list to tackle. You first have to take measurements of the area you would like to tile, then choose your tile, decide how you are going to install your tile and choosing a grout colour.
When taking you measurements be sure to measure the entire surface of the wall that you would like to cover, right up to the bottom of the upper cabinets. Another area that people have a question about is how far do I install that tile behind the stove. I suggest that you end the tile between the top height of your countertops backsplash and the stove top surface, this will finish the area so that the untiled area isn't showing. If you don't have a backsplash attached to your countertop, then just tile from the countertop surface.
Choosing your tile for your backsplash is the next task, and will probably not be easy due to the selection and types of tile available. In Peterborough, I can think of at least 10 different places to purchase tile. So take a good look around, know your budget and stick to it, tile is the one part of the project that you can go overboard. Obviously you need to think about what type of tile would go well with you decor in your kitchen or bathroom. Try and bring all the colours in your room together, use those colours to choose your tile. Remember that the light in the stores will not be the same as at home, purchased some tiles, bring them home and look there. You don't have to purchased ceramic tiles, there are other options, such as: peel and stick tiles or tiles in a sheet. These options have their advantages and disadvantages, peel and stick tiles are small and put on individually. They can give you a different effect but you have to know where you are putting them, they are permanent. As for the sheet variety, they glue to the wall and you caulk the joints between panels. These panels don't come in many colours, so look at all the options available to you.
After you purchase your tiles, installing them is the next task. There are two different methods that are affordable. The first is the old traditional method of using mastic (adhesive), trowels, grout and a grout float. The other affordable method is a product system called Bondera. Its new to the market in Peterborough, its an adhesive backed roll of mastic, comes in different sizes and can be used for backsplahes, countertops or showers. I will go into more detail on both methods in my next blog.
Choosing your grout colour is of the utmost importance, the colour could make or break you tile project. I suggest to my customers that they choose a colour that complements the tile selection. Making the tiled area seem more continuous and streamlined, if it was a different colour your focus would be on the grout and not the tile. Don't forget to budget for grout and tile sealer if necessary, depending on the type of tile it could cost a small sum.
This is only a short guide to the steps of choosing and installing a backsplash, as always if you aren't comfortable with the labour aspect of this project, please seek the help of a professional contractor. Do your research in all aspects of your projects, not just this one and make sure the contractor knows what he/she is doing, a bad installation makes the project look bad.
When taking you measurements be sure to measure the entire surface of the wall that you would like to cover, right up to the bottom of the upper cabinets. Another area that people have a question about is how far do I install that tile behind the stove. I suggest that you end the tile between the top height of your countertops backsplash and the stove top surface, this will finish the area so that the untiled area isn't showing. If you don't have a backsplash attached to your countertop, then just tile from the countertop surface.
Choosing your tile for your backsplash is the next task, and will probably not be easy due to the selection and types of tile available. In Peterborough, I can think of at least 10 different places to purchase tile. So take a good look around, know your budget and stick to it, tile is the one part of the project that you can go overboard. Obviously you need to think about what type of tile would go well with you decor in your kitchen or bathroom. Try and bring all the colours in your room together, use those colours to choose your tile. Remember that the light in the stores will not be the same as at home, purchased some tiles, bring them home and look there. You don't have to purchased ceramic tiles, there are other options, such as: peel and stick tiles or tiles in a sheet. These options have their advantages and disadvantages, peel and stick tiles are small and put on individually. They can give you a different effect but you have to know where you are putting them, they are permanent. As for the sheet variety, they glue to the wall and you caulk the joints between panels. These panels don't come in many colours, so look at all the options available to you.
After you purchase your tiles, installing them is the next task. There are two different methods that are affordable. The first is the old traditional method of using mastic (adhesive), trowels, grout and a grout float. The other affordable method is a product system called Bondera. Its new to the market in Peterborough, its an adhesive backed roll of mastic, comes in different sizes and can be used for backsplahes, countertops or showers. I will go into more detail on both methods in my next blog.
Choosing your grout colour is of the utmost importance, the colour could make or break you tile project. I suggest to my customers that they choose a colour that complements the tile selection. Making the tiled area seem more continuous and streamlined, if it was a different colour your focus would be on the grout and not the tile. Don't forget to budget for grout and tile sealer if necessary, depending on the type of tile it could cost a small sum.
This is only a short guide to the steps of choosing and installing a backsplash, as always if you aren't comfortable with the labour aspect of this project, please seek the help of a professional contractor. Do your research in all aspects of your projects, not just this one and make sure the contractor knows what he/she is doing, a bad installation makes the project look bad.
2012年2月1日星期三
Mob-hit Regency Ceramics says revival uncertain
Regency Ceramics, floor tiles major, whose unit in Yanam, Puducherry, was turned into ashes by workers, is now facing uncertainty over the revival of the company.
While the loss is estimated to be at Rs150-200 crore, it is still not known if the Rs450-crore insurance cover the company has for the factory bails it out.
“I am not sure if we can revive the operations. We are still undecided. We are assessing the loss and the top management has still not visited the factory since the burning down of the unit,” GN Naidu, Regency’s chairman and managing director, said.
Though there was no formal union activity in Regency in its three decades of existence, the setting up of a union a year back is believed to have spoiled the bonhomie between the workers and the management.
The continued friction between the management and the union resulted in a non-agreement on several issues including reinstatement of some of the ousted workers and paying out of interim increments.
“We had agreed to pay a bonus of Rs5,000 to all the employees though the union demanded Rs6,000. However, the Rs5,000 proposal was approved by the union as well. Though we had paid an increment for 2011-12, the union was insisting on interim increment for the current year. That was not acceptable to us since the company is facing tough times in terms of profitability,” he said. The Yanam facility is Regency’s sole unit.
With the employee-management negotiations hitting a dead-end, the management was trying to ensure continuity in production by seeking police protection. Agitated by this, on January 27, the workers resorted to violence by torching the factory, warehouse and the vehicles owned by the company. In this free-for-all situation, a mob attacked the residence of K C Chandrasekhar, the company’s president (operations), and hit him with sticks and rods. Chandrasekhar, also Naidu’s niece’s husband, succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh after battling for life for about three hours.
“The mob looted everything from the factory including cows and buffalos from the Goshala (cowshed). We had invested about Rs1.5 crore on the cowshed and the cattle. Tile inventory worth Rs20 crore was either looted or burnt down,” he said.
Regency had revenues of Rs200 crore for the last fiscal and has been running in losses due to lower capacity utilisation.
“The gas supply from ONGC was inadequate and we were not able to operate at full capacity. Currently, we have an accumulated loss of about Rs35 crore and a debt of about Rs80 crore. We were pinning hopes on the fourth quarter to break even and start booking profits. Now, the situation is back to square one,” Satyendra Prasad Narala, Regency’s executive director, said.
According to him, with the availability of gas improving, the company was moving towards value-added products, including vitrified tiles, duro and large-format wall tiles. “Next financial year, we would have turned around,” he said.
Regency is a leading player in floor tiles market and is said to be one of the top three exporters of tiles from the country. Though a ceramic tiles major, the company currently gets about 60% of its revenue from vitrified tiles.
While the loss is estimated to be at Rs150-200 crore, it is still not known if the Rs450-crore insurance cover the company has for the factory bails it out.
“I am not sure if we can revive the operations. We are still undecided. We are assessing the loss and the top management has still not visited the factory since the burning down of the unit,” GN Naidu, Regency’s chairman and managing director, said.
Though there was no formal union activity in Regency in its three decades of existence, the setting up of a union a year back is believed to have spoiled the bonhomie between the workers and the management.
The continued friction between the management and the union resulted in a non-agreement on several issues including reinstatement of some of the ousted workers and paying out of interim increments.
“We had agreed to pay a bonus of Rs5,000 to all the employees though the union demanded Rs6,000. However, the Rs5,000 proposal was approved by the union as well. Though we had paid an increment for 2011-12, the union was insisting on interim increment for the current year. That was not acceptable to us since the company is facing tough times in terms of profitability,” he said. The Yanam facility is Regency’s sole unit.
With the employee-management negotiations hitting a dead-end, the management was trying to ensure continuity in production by seeking police protection. Agitated by this, on January 27, the workers resorted to violence by torching the factory, warehouse and the vehicles owned by the company. In this free-for-all situation, a mob attacked the residence of K C Chandrasekhar, the company’s president (operations), and hit him with sticks and rods. Chandrasekhar, also Naidu’s niece’s husband, succumbed to injuries at a hospital in Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh after battling for life for about three hours.
“The mob looted everything from the factory including cows and buffalos from the Goshala (cowshed). We had invested about Rs1.5 crore on the cowshed and the cattle. Tile inventory worth Rs20 crore was either looted or burnt down,” he said.
Regency had revenues of Rs200 crore for the last fiscal and has been running in losses due to lower capacity utilisation.
“The gas supply from ONGC was inadequate and we were not able to operate at full capacity. Currently, we have an accumulated loss of about Rs35 crore and a debt of about Rs80 crore. We were pinning hopes on the fourth quarter to break even and start booking profits. Now, the situation is back to square one,” Satyendra Prasad Narala, Regency’s executive director, said.
According to him, with the availability of gas improving, the company was moving towards value-added products, including vitrified tiles, duro and large-format wall tiles. “Next financial year, we would have turned around,” he said.
Regency is a leading player in floor tiles market and is said to be one of the top three exporters of tiles from the country. Though a ceramic tiles major, the company currently gets about 60% of its revenue from vitrified tiles.
2012年1月15日星期日
Christchurch legacy at risk as city crumbles
As Christchurch continues to be shaken, heritage experts face some tough decisions.
Early December 2011. Ken Franklin has just made a decision. No more propping or temporary fixes to the Christchurch Arts Centre.
Given the cluster of historical buildings' precarious state, it's either a terrible gamble or a brave vote of confidence in the future. Possibly both. Unlike many landmark heritage buildings, the Arts Centre has survived Canterbury's devastating earthquake swarm and is still standing. Just.
When we speak again, it's a few days after Christmas.
"There is an awful sense of dread. They just come out of nowhere. You never know when it's going to happen next," says Franklin, the Arts Centre director, of the latest quakes that hit on December 23. "We had quite a bit more stone lost from upper levels, especially gables on Worcester Boulevard, but nothing major. We seem to have hung in there. The buildings are still standing. They have shown remarkable resilience to date."
Famous people were here - Ernest, Lord Rutherford, Sir Apirana Ngata and Dame Ngaio Marsh among them. History seeps from these stones, but then you see the present - crack lines, split archways, wrenched piers, walls rent asunder.To walk through this complex of gothic stone masonry buildings dating back to 1877, as I did in early December, is to tread the halls, cloisters and quadrangles of what was Canterbury University College and two former secondary schools.
"If we do get a shake, stick with me," says Franklin. "Running outside isn't always the right thing to do here." The destructive impact of huge stones crashed down from gable tops indicates what he's talking about. When the circular Observatory tower collapsed in February two contractors were working inside. They followed the safety advice given and moved to the street side of the building. Their car beside the tower was crushed.
The buildings are a patchwork of "make safe" mechanisms: posts under archways, crucially installed in September 2010 and preventing further damage; extensive steel propping against the Clock Tower; a 20-tonne turret on the footpath beside the Great Hall which was fortuitously removed a week before Christmas 2010; the last of the stained glass window finally extricated intact in December last year; shutters over deconstructed gable walls; and threaded tensioned wires running along the Great Hall ceiling pulling its gable ends taut.
"We are feeling quite vulnerable with this building at the moment," says Franklin calmly. "You can see the state of it. It looks reasonable externally but once you get in here you see that it is pretty fragile so the quicker we can get on to that permanent fix the better." The December quakes have hardened his resolve to move forward faster than ever.
This is the harsh reality of heritage recovery in central Christchurch. With so many heritage buildings already gone - in December, before the latest quakes, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority's (CERA) demolition list designates 124 "demolish", 22 "make safe", and 31 "partial demolish" - those still there are an increasingly rare commodity. Retaining the few remaining in the face of what seems like a scorched earth policy is a thankless, expensive task.
Hence the decision that enough is enough with the propping and that recovery can begin. "We estimate it will cost $240 million to strengthen and repair the site in total," says Franklin. "We're negotiating with two insurance companies - one has pulled out of New Zealand so we're now talking to their head office in the UK. There are a large number of reinsurers lining up behind them so it's a complex situation."
What's remarkable is that Franklin and the Arts Centre Trust Board - the body charged with preserving and protecting this iconic precinct - have somehow wangled the first $35 million of insurance money. That's enough for repairs and strengthening on the Clock Tower, including Rutherford's Den, and College Hall - a project estimated to take 30 months. Comprehensive insurance cover for the Centre was raised from $95 million to $116 million in January.
In December the Centre received an unexpected boost from the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust - a $14m donation comprising $5 million from American philanthropist Julian Robertson, matched by $5m from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and $4 million given by Fletcher Building. The extra money means Franklin is already planning stage two of the repairs - estimated at $30 million - for the former Christchurch Boys' High School buildings.
"This series of earthquakes is the worst thing that has ever happened to this place, but in a weird way it's also one of the best things," says Franklin with supreme optimism. "If we can get significant capital and inject that into repairing and helping to preserve these buildings in perpetuity, what a fantastic outcome that would be."
But it will be years before the public will once again enjoy the complex of bars, cafes, restaurants, galleries, studios, theatres, festival and event venues that the Arts Centre was. Heritage repair is a painstakingly slow business. For the Great Hall alone, all the slate roof tiles will be removed and a new plywood diaphragm applied, a concrete ring beam poured at the top of the walls, and the entire structure tied down with post tensioned steel rods.
In the Clock Tower some of the work is even more laborious, with new shear cores created inside the bluestone walls - a process whereby the internal masonry layers of brick or rubble are carefully demolished, replaced with reinforced concrete and then resurfaced with a brick facade on the inside. Elsewhere fibre reinforced polymer wraps - applied to the walls with resin and giving the equivalent strength of 100mm of reinforced concrete- will be used.
Early December 2011. Ken Franklin has just made a decision. No more propping or temporary fixes to the Christchurch Arts Centre.
Given the cluster of historical buildings' precarious state, it's either a terrible gamble or a brave vote of confidence in the future. Possibly both. Unlike many landmark heritage buildings, the Arts Centre has survived Canterbury's devastating earthquake swarm and is still standing. Just.
When we speak again, it's a few days after Christmas.
"There is an awful sense of dread. They just come out of nowhere. You never know when it's going to happen next," says Franklin, the Arts Centre director, of the latest quakes that hit on December 23. "We had quite a bit more stone lost from upper levels, especially gables on Worcester Boulevard, but nothing major. We seem to have hung in there. The buildings are still standing. They have shown remarkable resilience to date."
Famous people were here - Ernest, Lord Rutherford, Sir Apirana Ngata and Dame Ngaio Marsh among them. History seeps from these stones, but then you see the present - crack lines, split archways, wrenched piers, walls rent asunder.To walk through this complex of gothic stone masonry buildings dating back to 1877, as I did in early December, is to tread the halls, cloisters and quadrangles of what was Canterbury University College and two former secondary schools.
"If we do get a shake, stick with me," says Franklin. "Running outside isn't always the right thing to do here." The destructive impact of huge stones crashed down from gable tops indicates what he's talking about. When the circular Observatory tower collapsed in February two contractors were working inside. They followed the safety advice given and moved to the street side of the building. Their car beside the tower was crushed.
The buildings are a patchwork of "make safe" mechanisms: posts under archways, crucially installed in September 2010 and preventing further damage; extensive steel propping against the Clock Tower; a 20-tonne turret on the footpath beside the Great Hall which was fortuitously removed a week before Christmas 2010; the last of the stained glass window finally extricated intact in December last year; shutters over deconstructed gable walls; and threaded tensioned wires running along the Great Hall ceiling pulling its gable ends taut.
"We are feeling quite vulnerable with this building at the moment," says Franklin calmly. "You can see the state of it. It looks reasonable externally but once you get in here you see that it is pretty fragile so the quicker we can get on to that permanent fix the better." The December quakes have hardened his resolve to move forward faster than ever.
This is the harsh reality of heritage recovery in central Christchurch. With so many heritage buildings already gone - in December, before the latest quakes, the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority's (CERA) demolition list designates 124 "demolish", 22 "make safe", and 31 "partial demolish" - those still there are an increasingly rare commodity. Retaining the few remaining in the face of what seems like a scorched earth policy is a thankless, expensive task.
Hence the decision that enough is enough with the propping and that recovery can begin. "We estimate it will cost $240 million to strengthen and repair the site in total," says Franklin. "We're negotiating with two insurance companies - one has pulled out of New Zealand so we're now talking to their head office in the UK. There are a large number of reinsurers lining up behind them so it's a complex situation."
What's remarkable is that Franklin and the Arts Centre Trust Board - the body charged with preserving and protecting this iconic precinct - have somehow wangled the first $35 million of insurance money. That's enough for repairs and strengthening on the Clock Tower, including Rutherford's Den, and College Hall - a project estimated to take 30 months. Comprehensive insurance cover for the Centre was raised from $95 million to $116 million in January.
In December the Centre received an unexpected boost from the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust - a $14m donation comprising $5 million from American philanthropist Julian Robertson, matched by $5m from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and $4 million given by Fletcher Building. The extra money means Franklin is already planning stage two of the repairs - estimated at $30 million - for the former Christchurch Boys' High School buildings.
"This series of earthquakes is the worst thing that has ever happened to this place, but in a weird way it's also one of the best things," says Franklin with supreme optimism. "If we can get significant capital and inject that into repairing and helping to preserve these buildings in perpetuity, what a fantastic outcome that would be."
But it will be years before the public will once again enjoy the complex of bars, cafes, restaurants, galleries, studios, theatres, festival and event venues that the Arts Centre was. Heritage repair is a painstakingly slow business. For the Great Hall alone, all the slate roof tiles will be removed and a new plywood diaphragm applied, a concrete ring beam poured at the top of the walls, and the entire structure tied down with post tensioned steel rods.
In the Clock Tower some of the work is even more laborious, with new shear cores created inside the bluestone walls - a process whereby the internal masonry layers of brick or rubble are carefully demolished, replaced with reinforced concrete and then resurfaced with a brick facade on the inside. Elsewhere fibre reinforced polymer wraps - applied to the walls with resin and giving the equivalent strength of 100mm of reinforced concrete- will be used.
2012年1月10日星期二
Teen Discovers Ancient Version of 'Words with Friends' While Cleaning Out Grandmother's Closet
While cleaning out his recently deceased grandmother's closet for an estate sale, 19-year-old Skip Hespin of Bennington Vale stumbled upon a relic that sociologists from San Narciso College are calling an ancient predecessor to the immensely popular Words with Friends game. "I could hardly believe my eyes when I found it," Hespin said. "For the most part, it looks exactly like Words with Friends. But I have no idea how older generations worked this thing." No box or instructions could be found with the dilapidated set, but all the pieces were intact, having been stored in plastic bags. The game board, a 15 by 15 grid, displayed markings incredibly similar to those depicted in Words with Friends.
"There were squares for double word scores, triple letter scores, everything," Hespin added. "And there were all these little wooden tiles with letters. It's almost identical."
Still, Hespin and the research team investigating the find have been unable to operate the system.
Hespin said: "We tried everything to replicate the online game. I unfolded the board and then laid some random tiles out in the same order as they would appear on Words with Friends. But when I touch the tile I want to play, and then press the corresponding square I want to place it in, nothing happens. The tile just sits there. I have no idea what to do."
Worse, sociologists discovered, the game in its present state cannot be integrated with social networks or even the Internet. Babs Crel, the lead researcher on the project, explained: "Our initial elation has turned to frustration. We can’t be sure we have all the equipment required. At this point, we feel some critical component -- something that allows the set to be uploaded to a website, perhaps -- may be missing. But then, there's no operating system we can discern, not even a rudimentary one. We've also failed to find a way to provide online players access to the application. Without a duplicate set and a group video conferencing system, which seems inefficient, linking friends into the game has become impossible."
Skip Hespin lamented that he came across the antique after his grandmother's death. "I bet she could have taught us how to use it and solved this mystery," he said.
The sociologists have asked Hespin to consider donating the artifact to a local museum for further study and an upcoming exhibit on primitive twentieth-century culture. For now, though, Hespin says he will hold onto the game for posterity and its sentimental value. "I'll keep tinkering with it, but it's more important to me as a family heirloom than a way to kill time in class."
"There were squares for double word scores, triple letter scores, everything," Hespin added. "And there were all these little wooden tiles with letters. It's almost identical."
Still, Hespin and the research team investigating the find have been unable to operate the system.
Hespin said: "We tried everything to replicate the online game. I unfolded the board and then laid some random tiles out in the same order as they would appear on Words with Friends. But when I touch the tile I want to play, and then press the corresponding square I want to place it in, nothing happens. The tile just sits there. I have no idea what to do."
Worse, sociologists discovered, the game in its present state cannot be integrated with social networks or even the Internet. Babs Crel, the lead researcher on the project, explained: "Our initial elation has turned to frustration. We can’t be sure we have all the equipment required. At this point, we feel some critical component -- something that allows the set to be uploaded to a website, perhaps -- may be missing. But then, there's no operating system we can discern, not even a rudimentary one. We've also failed to find a way to provide online players access to the application. Without a duplicate set and a group video conferencing system, which seems inefficient, linking friends into the game has become impossible."
Skip Hespin lamented that he came across the antique after his grandmother's death. "I bet she could have taught us how to use it and solved this mystery," he said.
The sociologists have asked Hespin to consider donating the artifact to a local museum for further study and an upcoming exhibit on primitive twentieth-century culture. For now, though, Hespin says he will hold onto the game for posterity and its sentimental value. "I'll keep tinkering with it, but it's more important to me as a family heirloom than a way to kill time in class."
2011年12月29日星期四
Image Resources' North Perth Basin mineral sands project just keeps getting better
Image Resources' financial returns for its North Perth Basin mineral sands project just got a whole lot better with increases in the prices of titanium dioxide and zircon mineral sand products.
Tellingly, the increases would boost the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of the project to 47% at the current A$/US$, up from 43%. The net cash flows for life of the mine to $381 million, up from $259 million.
The capital for the project would be repaid from cash flows after just 13 months of operation, previously 18 months.
Capital costs are estimated at $84 million.
The project would produce some 1,393,000 tonnes of ilmenite, 85,000 tonnes of rutile, 193,000 tonnes of zircon and 93,000 tonnes of leucoxene over a twelve year mine life.
Image has commenced a Feasibility Study on the North Perth Basin project.
Environmental consultants are carrying out baseline studies and the environmental permitting of the Atlas deposit, the first of the deposits to be developed.
Bulk samples from the Atlas and Red Gully deposits are being collected in preparation for further metallurgical test work to be carried out during the first quarter 2012.
This test work is expected to demonstrate that metallurgical recoveries for these resources can be improved.
There has been an 80-85 per cent increase in rutile prices and 85-90 per cent projected increase in synthetic rutile prices next year. While zircon prices are expected to flatten early next year after strong increases the last few years.
The pigments are used in paints and other building materials and then on-sold to China and other developing countries.
While new supply is coming on stream, the new suppliers will simply help satisfy the demand growth out of China.
The key markets for zircon, a product used in ceramics and tiles, are generally outside of the regions affected by the current sovereign debt issues. zircon in particular, the ceramic-centric cultures, the tile-centric cultures tend to be Latin American, Asian, Islamic and the Middle East.
With very strong demand for minerals sands products the outlook for Image's North Perth Basin mineral sands project is very solid based on projected financial returns.
If Iluka is anything to go by, Image presents a real opportunity for investors with booming mineral sands prices and demand for rutile and zircon.
Iluka is up more than 470 per cent since the lows of July 2009 and is up more than 86 per cent since January. In comparison, the ASX 200 index is down about 13 per cent this year.
While Iluka is an industry leader, it was not always the case and in 2009 was down and almost out. For keen investors, there is an opportunity to potentially catch a wave with Image riding high demand for minerals sands products as it moves closer to development of its Perth Basin mineral sands project.
Tellingly, the increases would boost the Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of the project to 47% at the current A$/US$, up from 43%. The net cash flows for life of the mine to $381 million, up from $259 million.
The capital for the project would be repaid from cash flows after just 13 months of operation, previously 18 months.
Capital costs are estimated at $84 million.
The project would produce some 1,393,000 tonnes of ilmenite, 85,000 tonnes of rutile, 193,000 tonnes of zircon and 93,000 tonnes of leucoxene over a twelve year mine life.
Image has commenced a Feasibility Study on the North Perth Basin project.
Environmental consultants are carrying out baseline studies and the environmental permitting of the Atlas deposit, the first of the deposits to be developed.
Bulk samples from the Atlas and Red Gully deposits are being collected in preparation for further metallurgical test work to be carried out during the first quarter 2012.
This test work is expected to demonstrate that metallurgical recoveries for these resources can be improved.
There has been an 80-85 per cent increase in rutile prices and 85-90 per cent projected increase in synthetic rutile prices next year. While zircon prices are expected to flatten early next year after strong increases the last few years.
The pigments are used in paints and other building materials and then on-sold to China and other developing countries.
While new supply is coming on stream, the new suppliers will simply help satisfy the demand growth out of China.
The key markets for zircon, a product used in ceramics and tiles, are generally outside of the regions affected by the current sovereign debt issues. zircon in particular, the ceramic-centric cultures, the tile-centric cultures tend to be Latin American, Asian, Islamic and the Middle East.
With very strong demand for minerals sands products the outlook for Image's North Perth Basin mineral sands project is very solid based on projected financial returns.
If Iluka is anything to go by, Image presents a real opportunity for investors with booming mineral sands prices and demand for rutile and zircon.
Iluka is up more than 470 per cent since the lows of July 2009 and is up more than 86 per cent since January. In comparison, the ASX 200 index is down about 13 per cent this year.
While Iluka is an industry leader, it was not always the case and in 2009 was down and almost out. For keen investors, there is an opportunity to potentially catch a wave with Image riding high demand for minerals sands products as it moves closer to development of its Perth Basin mineral sands project.
2011年12月15日星期四
Shaw Receives Seventh Consecutive California Waste Reduction Award
Four Shaw Industries Group, Inc. manufacturing facilities in California have been recognized by the CalRecycle Waste Reduction Awards Program (WRAP) for the seventh consecutive year. The awards are designed to recognize the leadership of businesses and organizations with highly successful waste-to-landfill reduction initiatives.
“Earning recognition from CalRecycle through the WRAP awards for seven straight years is a great honor,” said Shaw Vice President of Sustainability Paul Murray. “It is also a source of motivation for us to continue seeking out new opportunities and channels to further reduce waste at these facilities and all Shaw facilities – as well as to work to improve our existing processes.”
The four California facilities, which support manufacturing for the Shaw Tuftex carpet brand, frequently serve as examples of the company’s commitment to Sustainability through Innovation – the Shaw Green Edge, Murray added. “From Zero Waste to Landfill status to demonstrating best practices for water conservation and efficiency, these facilities continue to help us raise the bar on the environmental responsibility of all our operations,” he said.
According to Jim Cusick, director of manufacturing for the Tuftex division, the facilities diverted a combined total of 8.5 million pounds of waste from landfill (3.8 million lbs reused and 4.7 million lbs recycled), generating more than $1.3 million in landfill, waste reduction and reuse costs in the process. “Reducing and eliminating waste from our operations is a fundamental part of the way we work,” Cusick said. “We are proud to serve as an example of how environmentally responsible practices can help improve overall operational and business practices.”
“This year’s WRAP winners are evidence that businesses and organizations of all sizes are achieving significant waste reduction and recycling goals, all while helping protect the environment and preserve our natural resources,” said CalRecycle director Caroll Mortensen.
“Earning recognition from CalRecycle through the WRAP awards for seven straight years is a great honor,” said Shaw Vice President of Sustainability Paul Murray. “It is also a source of motivation for us to continue seeking out new opportunities and channels to further reduce waste at these facilities and all Shaw facilities – as well as to work to improve our existing processes.”
The four California facilities, which support manufacturing for the Shaw Tuftex carpet brand, frequently serve as examples of the company’s commitment to Sustainability through Innovation – the Shaw Green Edge, Murray added. “From Zero Waste to Landfill status to demonstrating best practices for water conservation and efficiency, these facilities continue to help us raise the bar on the environmental responsibility of all our operations,” he said.
According to Jim Cusick, director of manufacturing for the Tuftex division, the facilities diverted a combined total of 8.5 million pounds of waste from landfill (3.8 million lbs reused and 4.7 million lbs recycled), generating more than $1.3 million in landfill, waste reduction and reuse costs in the process. “Reducing and eliminating waste from our operations is a fundamental part of the way we work,” Cusick said. “We are proud to serve as an example of how environmentally responsible practices can help improve overall operational and business practices.”
“This year’s WRAP winners are evidence that businesses and organizations of all sizes are achieving significant waste reduction and recycling goals, all while helping protect the environment and preserve our natural resources,” said CalRecycle director Caroll Mortensen.
2011年12月8日星期四
Updated Arlington Cape Cod
While many Washington-area residents think of Clarendon as the Arlington neighborhood where young professionals live in condos and enjoy plenty of local nightlife and restaurants, this part of Northern Virginia is also full of charming single-family homes that appeal to young families.
Lyon Park, located six blocks from the Clarendon Metro and numerous shops, restaurants and clubs, offers a central location for families to gather while the children enjoy the playground equipment. Each Halloween, residents gather at the park for a neighborhood Halloween parade. A community center at the park is used frequently for community meetings and private gatherings.
Across the street from Lyon Park, on a prime corner lot at 3003 Fourth St. N, an expanded Cape Cod-style home is on the market for $875,000. Built in 1922, this home has been updated with a new kitchen, a new roof, a new water heater and a new electrical panel.
The pale yellow siding of this home is complemented by dark green shutters and a flagstone front walk. Mature trees surround the property, which has been beautifully landscaped on all sides. In the back of the house is a fully fenced, landscaped backyard with a storage shed. A private drive next to the house adds space for off-street parking.
The front door opens into a living room with hardwood flooring and a gas fireplace with an adjacent built-in bookcase. The living room has a double window facing the front yard.
Nearby is a formal dining room with a brushed-nickel chandelier and a window framing a view of the backyard. The dining room has been painted bright red to add a splash of color to the main level.
Just beyond the living room and dining room are two first-floor bedrooms. One bedroom faces the front yard and includes a closet. The second bedroom faces the backyard and has two closets. These two bedrooms are linked by a connecting full bath with a pedestal sink, a tile floor and a combination tub and shower.
Every room on the main and upper levels has its original solid-wood paneled door with the original glass doorknobs.
The updated kitchen, renovated recently with granite counters and stainless steel appliances, has gas cooking. The kitchen includes a distinctive pressed-tin backsplash in a nod to the 1920s, a window over the sink and ceramic tile flooring.
The cabinets have been designed to maximize every inch of space, with narrow cabinets for baking sheets, a special cabinet for wine storage, a pantry and triangular corner cabinets. The wood cabinets have beadboard on the bottom doors and plain fronts on the top.
Both the kitchen and the living room have entrances to the sunroom, a former porch with a beadboard ceiling that has been enclosed.
The sunroom has a picture window facing Lyon Park that nearly fills one wall, plus a window facing the front yard and a sliding glass door that opens onto the wood deck. The sunroom can be used as a family room, a home office, a casual dining area or a playroom. The deck includes a gate with a few steps to the backyard.
Hardwood stairs lead to the upper level, which has hardwood flooring throughout. At the top of the stairs is a charming landing with a dormer window, under-eaves storage and a second window. This space easily could be used as a reading or computer nook.
The master bedroom features a sloping ceiling with three skylights, a wall of mirrored closets and undereaves storage. At one end of the bedroom is a nook with two windows overlooking the backyard, perfect for a cozy sitting area.
Lyon Park, located six blocks from the Clarendon Metro and numerous shops, restaurants and clubs, offers a central location for families to gather while the children enjoy the playground equipment. Each Halloween, residents gather at the park for a neighborhood Halloween parade. A community center at the park is used frequently for community meetings and private gatherings.
Across the street from Lyon Park, on a prime corner lot at 3003 Fourth St. N, an expanded Cape Cod-style home is on the market for $875,000. Built in 1922, this home has been updated with a new kitchen, a new roof, a new water heater and a new electrical panel.
The pale yellow siding of this home is complemented by dark green shutters and a flagstone front walk. Mature trees surround the property, which has been beautifully landscaped on all sides. In the back of the house is a fully fenced, landscaped backyard with a storage shed. A private drive next to the house adds space for off-street parking.
The front door opens into a living room with hardwood flooring and a gas fireplace with an adjacent built-in bookcase. The living room has a double window facing the front yard.
Nearby is a formal dining room with a brushed-nickel chandelier and a window framing a view of the backyard. The dining room has been painted bright red to add a splash of color to the main level.
Just beyond the living room and dining room are two first-floor bedrooms. One bedroom faces the front yard and includes a closet. The second bedroom faces the backyard and has two closets. These two bedrooms are linked by a connecting full bath with a pedestal sink, a tile floor and a combination tub and shower.
Every room on the main and upper levels has its original solid-wood paneled door with the original glass doorknobs.
The updated kitchen, renovated recently with granite counters and stainless steel appliances, has gas cooking. The kitchen includes a distinctive pressed-tin backsplash in a nod to the 1920s, a window over the sink and ceramic tile flooring.
The cabinets have been designed to maximize every inch of space, with narrow cabinets for baking sheets, a special cabinet for wine storage, a pantry and triangular corner cabinets. The wood cabinets have beadboard on the bottom doors and plain fronts on the top.
Both the kitchen and the living room have entrances to the sunroom, a former porch with a beadboard ceiling that has been enclosed.
The sunroom has a picture window facing Lyon Park that nearly fills one wall, plus a window facing the front yard and a sliding glass door that opens onto the wood deck. The sunroom can be used as a family room, a home office, a casual dining area or a playroom. The deck includes a gate with a few steps to the backyard.
Hardwood stairs lead to the upper level, which has hardwood flooring throughout. At the top of the stairs is a charming landing with a dormer window, under-eaves storage and a second window. This space easily could be used as a reading or computer nook.
The master bedroom features a sloping ceiling with three skylights, a wall of mirrored closets and undereaves storage. At one end of the bedroom is a nook with two windows overlooking the backyard, perfect for a cozy sitting area.
2011年12月6日星期二
Over 25 ceramics manufacturing units closed in Gujrat, Gujranwala
More than 25 Ceramics Manufacturing Units have been closed down in Gujarat and Gujranwala districts during the current year 2011 due to fuel and energy shortages, primitive methods of manufacturing, inability to assemble and deploy intellectual, human and financial resources effectively, lack of vision for growth, limited perception of business requirements and restricted funding sources.
In a survey report conducted by International Finance Corporation of World Bank Group with the cooperation of State Bank of Pakistan and Owners of the Ceramics Industry, it was pointed out that this sector does not experience seasonal fluctuations and is fairly dependent upon business conditions. The business suffers from lack of technology and good quality raw materials which affects the quality of the product to great extent.
Therefore, Ceramics Industry has a heavy reliance on their suppliers and most of the businesses rely on more than five suppliers according to our primary survey.
According to Pakistan Ceramics Manufacturing Associations, the businesses in Ceramics Industry approach their customers, which are retail shops, by paying personal visits and arrange agreements. Most of the businesses have pre-selected retailers to whom they sell their products. Only about 10 percent have their own retail shops.
Survey disclosed that around 56 percent businesses have no fixed asset requirements as majority of them face issues related to availability of power and supply of gas, which are considered major constraints for growth. However, these businesses show a high requirement for working capital/overdraft requirement. The remaining 44 percent require fixed asset from which majority require finance for machinery and equipment.
Ceramics Industry is generally underserved with respect to financing and banking products. The businesses operating in the segment are hesitant to obtain financing and to have a closer and long-term relationship with banks and financial institutions due to lack of awareness, survey pointed out.
According to IFC survey, working capital is dependent upon payment terms offered to customers and received from suppliers. Ceramics sub-segment operates on payment from retailers and wholesalers and in some instances they export directly to international market. As evidenced from primary research, 61 percent of businesses have payment terms offered to customers and received from suppliers are within one month, overall indicating a short working capital lifecycle. Half of the businesses in this segment do not prepare formal financial statements. However; Ceramics Industry owner do prepare single entry records and/or cash registers for bookkeeping purposes. About 44 percent of them claim to prepare financial statements from which only 5 percent get their accounts audited from chartered firms. Owners/managers keep track of accounts themselves, their lack of accounting knowledge and experience presents a constraint for preparation and keeping an organised track of cash movement.
As per research findings, none of the business owners in the segment had carried out a formal assessment of their financial positions with regards to capital invested, business assets employed, annual revenue, income and expenses. The information gathered was an estimate provided to us by the interviewees.
Business owner's reluctance and non availability of proper accounting records presents an issue for calculation of segment's benchmark financial ratios. Devising from the information attained in the course of primary research, the indicative ratios will be an estimate at best and cannot be utilised to assess an accurate position of the individual businesses operating in the segment.
Conclusively it can be said that there exists an ample demand for good quality ceramics and glass products and can compete well in international markets. The existing scenario provides ample opportunities for entry into this business.
According to survey, funds are mostly managed by the owners themselves, mainly required for business assets and working capital, which are mostly fulfilled by their own personal savings, or borrow from friends and family or cash flows from the business. Among the fixed assets, finance requirements mainly centered on machinery and equipment of the business.
Survey mentioned that ceramics industry requires good quality raw material for the manufacturing of its products. However this means purchasing the raw material for higher cost than the average which adds serious cash flow problems to the business. Working capital financing can provide the SMEs in the segment with further room for growth with by allowing them to purchase new merchandise when a new vehicle or motor cycle model arrives in the market.
Unavailability of international standard machines in the ceramics sub-segment poses a grim picture for its future growth at local and especially at international level.
Pakistan's ceramic sub-segment can be divided into two major categories; roof tiles and sanitary ware. Roof tiles is a fairly organised sub-segment and has gained popularity, especially with the lower income segment of the population due to their low cost, durability, easy installation and maintenance as compared to concrete roofs.
Demand for construction remains constant throughout the year. However, construction activities slow down in some parts of the country where weather is extremely cold in winters. Ceramics sanitary wares and tiles are essential consumer items in the urbanised areas of the country. With rapid urbanisation and new construction, the demand for tiles and sanitary wares has increased manifold over the last three years. It is however a relatively unorganised sub-segment and is dependable on the quality of raw material available to it.
According to Pakistan Ceramics Manufacturing Association, ceramics industry has been unable to meet foreign and local demands due to slow manufacturing process and shut down of many units. The industry consists of small, medium and large corporations involved in the manufacturing of the ceramics. The annual capacity of large enterprises vary largely to 2,000 Sqm and above, while in the SME enterprises, annual capacity ranges between 800 Sqm and below.
There are seven ceramic tile manufacturing industries with installed capacity of 22 million Sqm per year and production of 18.7 million Sqm per year. The production figure has risen from 10.6 million Sqm in 2003-04 to the 18.7 million in 2009-10, depicting significant potential for further growth.
In a survey report conducted by International Finance Corporation of World Bank Group with the cooperation of State Bank of Pakistan and Owners of the Ceramics Industry, it was pointed out that this sector does not experience seasonal fluctuations and is fairly dependent upon business conditions. The business suffers from lack of technology and good quality raw materials which affects the quality of the product to great extent.
Therefore, Ceramics Industry has a heavy reliance on their suppliers and most of the businesses rely on more than five suppliers according to our primary survey.
According to Pakistan Ceramics Manufacturing Associations, the businesses in Ceramics Industry approach their customers, which are retail shops, by paying personal visits and arrange agreements. Most of the businesses have pre-selected retailers to whom they sell their products. Only about 10 percent have their own retail shops.
Survey disclosed that around 56 percent businesses have no fixed asset requirements as majority of them face issues related to availability of power and supply of gas, which are considered major constraints for growth. However, these businesses show a high requirement for working capital/overdraft requirement. The remaining 44 percent require fixed asset from which majority require finance for machinery and equipment.
Ceramics Industry is generally underserved with respect to financing and banking products. The businesses operating in the segment are hesitant to obtain financing and to have a closer and long-term relationship with banks and financial institutions due to lack of awareness, survey pointed out.
According to IFC survey, working capital is dependent upon payment terms offered to customers and received from suppliers. Ceramics sub-segment operates on payment from retailers and wholesalers and in some instances they export directly to international market. As evidenced from primary research, 61 percent of businesses have payment terms offered to customers and received from suppliers are within one month, overall indicating a short working capital lifecycle. Half of the businesses in this segment do not prepare formal financial statements. However; Ceramics Industry owner do prepare single entry records and/or cash registers for bookkeeping purposes. About 44 percent of them claim to prepare financial statements from which only 5 percent get their accounts audited from chartered firms. Owners/managers keep track of accounts themselves, their lack of accounting knowledge and experience presents a constraint for preparation and keeping an organised track of cash movement.
As per research findings, none of the business owners in the segment had carried out a formal assessment of their financial positions with regards to capital invested, business assets employed, annual revenue, income and expenses. The information gathered was an estimate provided to us by the interviewees.
Business owner's reluctance and non availability of proper accounting records presents an issue for calculation of segment's benchmark financial ratios. Devising from the information attained in the course of primary research, the indicative ratios will be an estimate at best and cannot be utilised to assess an accurate position of the individual businesses operating in the segment.
Conclusively it can be said that there exists an ample demand for good quality ceramics and glass products and can compete well in international markets. The existing scenario provides ample opportunities for entry into this business.
According to survey, funds are mostly managed by the owners themselves, mainly required for business assets and working capital, which are mostly fulfilled by their own personal savings, or borrow from friends and family or cash flows from the business. Among the fixed assets, finance requirements mainly centered on machinery and equipment of the business.
Survey mentioned that ceramics industry requires good quality raw material for the manufacturing of its products. However this means purchasing the raw material for higher cost than the average which adds serious cash flow problems to the business. Working capital financing can provide the SMEs in the segment with further room for growth with by allowing them to purchase new merchandise when a new vehicle or motor cycle model arrives in the market.
Unavailability of international standard machines in the ceramics sub-segment poses a grim picture for its future growth at local and especially at international level.
Pakistan's ceramic sub-segment can be divided into two major categories; roof tiles and sanitary ware. Roof tiles is a fairly organised sub-segment and has gained popularity, especially with the lower income segment of the population due to their low cost, durability, easy installation and maintenance as compared to concrete roofs.
Demand for construction remains constant throughout the year. However, construction activities slow down in some parts of the country where weather is extremely cold in winters. Ceramics sanitary wares and tiles are essential consumer items in the urbanised areas of the country. With rapid urbanisation and new construction, the demand for tiles and sanitary wares has increased manifold over the last three years. It is however a relatively unorganised sub-segment and is dependable on the quality of raw material available to it.
According to Pakistan Ceramics Manufacturing Association, ceramics industry has been unable to meet foreign and local demands due to slow manufacturing process and shut down of many units. The industry consists of small, medium and large corporations involved in the manufacturing of the ceramics. The annual capacity of large enterprises vary largely to 2,000 Sqm and above, while in the SME enterprises, annual capacity ranges between 800 Sqm and below.
There are seven ceramic tile manufacturing industries with installed capacity of 22 million Sqm per year and production of 18.7 million Sqm per year. The production figure has risen from 10.6 million Sqm in 2003-04 to the 18.7 million in 2009-10, depicting significant potential for further growth.
2011年9月12日星期一
Mission Viejo group brings artwork, $10,000 for tornado relief
A delegation from Mission Viejo, Calif., on Monday delivered a check for tornado relief and some public artwork.
The artwork is a ceramic tile mural called “Doves of Peace.” A subtitle reads “for the city of Joplin, Missouri, to help rebuild their parks after an incredible F5 tornado in May 2011.” It is on display in Joplin City Hall. A nearly identical one is on display in the City Hall in Mission Viejo, in southern California.
The group presented the city with a check for $10,000 on Monday. They had raised the money from many fundraisers, including raffles of gift baskets, and selling the opportunity to glaze pieces of tile that are part of the mural.
Cathy Allen and Margot Ferron headed up the fundraising effort. Allen, with the city activities committee, was organizing the town’s Fourth of July street fair when the tornado struck Joplin. Allen went to Mayor Dave Leckness with the idea of using the event to do something for Joplin. He approved.
Ferron joined the effort and began the Mission Viejo Supports Joplin campaign.
Booths at the street fair allowed children to create cards showing their support for Joplin children. It also attracted their parents, where large water jugs were awaiting their donations.
That effort raised $2,667. Allen and Ferron said they knew they could do better.
The Orange County city’s Hometown Block Party at the end of July provided another fundraising opportunity, with Christmas in July and a theme of “It’s better to give than to receive.” The event was sponsored by Mission Viejo’s Pacific Symphony.
They raffled tickets to a Los Angeles Angels baseball game.
“It was raised a dollar and $5 at a time,” Ferron said. She said the initial goal was $5,000, but it kept increasing each time the goal was met.
Ferron and Allen said they also were assisted by Lion’s Heart, a youth organization, and the local Boy Scouts troop.
On Sept. 9, with the fund $800 short of the $10,000 mark, an anonymous donor pitched in with the final $800.
The artwork is from a painting by the late Joe Koons in about 1969. He was a mentor of Melanie Yarak, who was part of the group who came to Joplin. Yarak said Koons taught her about the idea of allowing community members to glaze the tiles. Koons died before the “Doves of Peace” mural was created. His daughter, Jennifer Koons, was another artist listed on the piece. The fourth artist is Cha-Rie Tang.
Julie Koons, Joe Koons’ widow and Jennifer Koons’ mother, also traveled to Joplin for the presentation.
“I’m very proud and I know he would be thrilled,” Julie Koons said of the destination of her late husband’s art.
“He was the kind of guy who talked with a laugh,” Yarak said of her mentor. “I can just hear him telling me ‘incredible,’ if I were to tell him how his art was being used.”
The artwork is a ceramic tile mural called “Doves of Peace.” A subtitle reads “for the city of Joplin, Missouri, to help rebuild their parks after an incredible F5 tornado in May 2011.” It is on display in Joplin City Hall. A nearly identical one is on display in the City Hall in Mission Viejo, in southern California.
The group presented the city with a check for $10,000 on Monday. They had raised the money from many fundraisers, including raffles of gift baskets, and selling the opportunity to glaze pieces of tile that are part of the mural.
Cathy Allen and Margot Ferron headed up the fundraising effort. Allen, with the city activities committee, was organizing the town’s Fourth of July street fair when the tornado struck Joplin. Allen went to Mayor Dave Leckness with the idea of using the event to do something for Joplin. He approved.
Ferron joined the effort and began the Mission Viejo Supports Joplin campaign.
Booths at the street fair allowed children to create cards showing their support for Joplin children. It also attracted their parents, where large water jugs were awaiting their donations.
That effort raised $2,667. Allen and Ferron said they knew they could do better.
The Orange County city’s Hometown Block Party at the end of July provided another fundraising opportunity, with Christmas in July and a theme of “It’s better to give than to receive.” The event was sponsored by Mission Viejo’s Pacific Symphony.
They raffled tickets to a Los Angeles Angels baseball game.
“It was raised a dollar and $5 at a time,” Ferron said. She said the initial goal was $5,000, but it kept increasing each time the goal was met.
Ferron and Allen said they also were assisted by Lion’s Heart, a youth organization, and the local Boy Scouts troop.
On Sept. 9, with the fund $800 short of the $10,000 mark, an anonymous donor pitched in with the final $800.
The artwork is from a painting by the late Joe Koons in about 1969. He was a mentor of Melanie Yarak, who was part of the group who came to Joplin. Yarak said Koons taught her about the idea of allowing community members to glaze the tiles. Koons died before the “Doves of Peace” mural was created. His daughter, Jennifer Koons, was another artist listed on the piece. The fourth artist is Cha-Rie Tang.
Julie Koons, Joe Koons’ widow and Jennifer Koons’ mother, also traveled to Joplin for the presentation.
“I’m very proud and I know he would be thrilled,” Julie Koons said of the destination of her late husband’s art.
“He was the kind of guy who talked with a laugh,” Yarak said of her mentor. “I can just hear him telling me ‘incredible,’ if I were to tell him how his art was being used.”
2011年5月18日星期三
Electric Sky sells in Australia, India
UK distributor Electric Sky has sold a package deal into Australia, and is reporting sales into Denmark, India and more.
Denmark terrestrial DRTV has acquired the current affairs documentary Secret Iraq (2 x 59 minutes) by Quicksilver Media for BBC2, which was recently nominated for a BAFTA. The doc gives a new look at the story of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Fox in India has picked up Mercurio’s Menu series 1 and 2 (26 x 21 minutes) by WTFN Entertainment for the Seven Network Australia. The travel and cooking series is presented by Strictly Ballroom star Paul Mercurio.
Also in India, Discovery has acquired Trishna & Krishna: Separate Lives (1 x 52 minutes) by WTFN for Seven (pictured). The documentary focuses on the separation of Siamese twins, and has also been picked up by UKTV’s channel Really.
In Australia, Seven picked up a package of programming, including green Olympic games documentary Going for Green: Britain’s 2012 Dream (1 x 48 minutes) by Darlow Smithson; HD two-parter Building Sea City (2 x 44 minutes) by Furnace for the Discovery Channel and architecture special Bridging the World (1 x 48 minutes) by Title Role Productions for History.
Seven also picked up a number of racing series including Racing Green (8 x 26 minutes) by Von Planta Productions for BBC World News; Great Grand Prix Racing Heroes (12 x 52 minutes) and Le Mans, Battle of La Sarthe (1 x 52 minutes) both by Brunswick Films.
Elsewhere in Australia, XYZnetworks’ LifeStyle HOME channel picked up A Place in the Sun – Home or Away series five (55 x 48 minutes) by Freeform Productions for Channel 4. Nine Network Australia has licensed World’s Fattest Man (1 x 60 minutes) by Electric Sky Production for Discovery TLC/Channel 4.
Electric Sky also announced other recent deals with E! Entertainment, which has licensed more than 40 hours of fashion and design series including Big Boutique series one and two (52 x 24 minutes) and Big Boutique In the City (13 x 24 minutes) and Fashion Avenue series 1 – 3 (32 x 25 minutes) which is presented by supermodel Jodie Kidd.
In New Zealand, Sky Network acquired HD special Looking for Lowry (1 x 78 minutes / 1 x 60 minutes) by Foxtrot Films, featuring Ian McKellen. The doc celebrates British artist L.S. Lowry.
Lastly, French broadcaster Planete has picked up a package including Crime Scene Insects (1 x 47 minutes) by Crocodile Media for the Crime and Investigation Network; Partners in Crime (6 x 25 minutes) by Very! for Crime and Investigation Asia and The Second Coming (1 x 50 minutes) by UK producer Wild Dream Films for National Geographic USA. This one-hour documentary special features three men who claim to be the second coming of Christ.
Denmark terrestrial DRTV has acquired the current affairs documentary Secret Iraq (2 x 59 minutes) by Quicksilver Media for BBC2, which was recently nominated for a BAFTA. The doc gives a new look at the story of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Fox in India has picked up Mercurio’s Menu series 1 and 2 (26 x 21 minutes) by WTFN Entertainment for the Seven Network Australia. The travel and cooking series is presented by Strictly Ballroom star Paul Mercurio.
Also in India, Discovery has acquired Trishna & Krishna: Separate Lives (1 x 52 minutes) by WTFN for Seven (pictured). The documentary focuses on the separation of Siamese twins, and has also been picked up by UKTV’s channel Really.
In Australia, Seven picked up a package of programming, including green Olympic games documentary Going for Green: Britain’s 2012 Dream (1 x 48 minutes) by Darlow Smithson; HD two-parter Building Sea City (2 x 44 minutes) by Furnace for the Discovery Channel and architecture special Bridging the World (1 x 48 minutes) by Title Role Productions for History.
Seven also picked up a number of racing series including Racing Green (8 x 26 minutes) by Von Planta Productions for BBC World News; Great Grand Prix Racing Heroes (12 x 52 minutes) and Le Mans, Battle of La Sarthe (1 x 52 minutes) both by Brunswick Films.
Elsewhere in Australia, XYZnetworks’ LifeStyle HOME channel picked up A Place in the Sun – Home or Away series five (55 x 48 minutes) by Freeform Productions for Channel 4. Nine Network Australia has licensed World’s Fattest Man (1 x 60 minutes) by Electric Sky Production for Discovery TLC/Channel 4.
Electric Sky also announced other recent deals with E! Entertainment, which has licensed more than 40 hours of fashion and design series including Big Boutique series one and two (52 x 24 minutes) and Big Boutique In the City (13 x 24 minutes) and Fashion Avenue series 1 – 3 (32 x 25 minutes) which is presented by supermodel Jodie Kidd.
In New Zealand, Sky Network acquired HD special Looking for Lowry (1 x 78 minutes / 1 x 60 minutes) by Foxtrot Films, featuring Ian McKellen. The doc celebrates British artist L.S. Lowry.
Lastly, French broadcaster Planete has picked up a package including Crime Scene Insects (1 x 47 minutes) by Crocodile Media for the Crime and Investigation Network; Partners in Crime (6 x 25 minutes) by Very! for Crime and Investigation Asia and The Second Coming (1 x 50 minutes) by UK producer Wild Dream Films for National Geographic USA. This one-hour documentary special features three men who claim to be the second coming of Christ.
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